Sophomore has matured into a leader

STOCKTON - Sylvonya Moore likely will earn every one of her rebounds tonight.

Mark Godi

STOCKTON - Sylvonya Moore likely will earn every one of her rebounds tonight.

The 5-foot-7 sophomore guard from Tokay High led the Delta College women's basketball team with 6.7 rebounds per game. The No. 5 Mustangs (22-7) play No. 12 College of the Sequoias (16-11) in the semifinals of the California Community College Athletic Association Northern California Regional Championships at 7 p.m. today at Joe Blanchard Gymnasium.

The Giants are led by 5-10 forward Alley Reeves, who averages 18.6 points and 15 rebounds per game.

Should Delta win tonight, it will play the winner of tonight's game between No. 4 Laney and No. 13 San Jose City.

The higher-seeded team will host a regional final at 7 p.m. on March 6. The winner of that game advances to the state championships March 11-14 at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

"Sequoias only has a few guards and lot of posts," Moore said. "Our biggest challenge is going to be shutting (Reeves) down."

Rebounding was the difference in the Mustangs' 74-64 loss last year to Pasadena in the state championship game. Pasadena outrebounded Delta 49-35, and had 18 second-chance points to Delta's four.

Moore came off the bench last season behind Big 8 Conference most valuable player Jessica Dela Cruz. Moore has been a starter for most of this season and has doubled her rebounding numbers.

Moore also leads the team in scoring at 10.5 points per game and was named first team all-conference.

"This year I felt like it would be a really good change to have her as a rebounder more," Delta coach Gina Johnson said.

"Last year, she played a lot of safety and defended the ball more. She didn't have the freedom to crash the boards."

On Feb. 11, Delta was denied its ninth consecutive conference championship with a 72-48 loss at Santa Rosa. The following game, Moore had her first double-digit rebounding and scoring effort (11 points, 12 rebounds) in a 78-61 win over Cosumnes River.

"I think Sylvonya is going to be a real good leader for us going into the playoffs," Johnson said. "I think she understands things more now."